AIBU to be totally confused (cost of living crisis)

[LittleBitHeiressLittleBitIris]

AIBU to not be able to understand/ grasp the scale of impending disaster that is building over the increased cost of living?

I genuinely don't see how millions of people with outgoings that are about to be actually higher than income is going to play out.

I'm not trying to be goady and obviously realise no-one has a crystal ball but am I missing something? Has this ever happened before in other recent times/ other cultures and what was the result. I can't even imagine what could happen.

I feel really clueless! Any ideas/ opinions/ further reading much appreciated 👍

@Chloemol

We have been through this before, anyone remember the 70s and three day weeks? Or the 80s when base rate went up 4 times in one day to 15%

It’s just that lots haven’t, have spent what they haven’t got using cards, interest free loans, buy now, pay later and mocked people like me who save and then buy

It’s another lesson, like Covid, on how things can change quickly, and like covid we now have lots of people who, never having been through this before, will find it hard

And I say that as someone who will find finding money to pay these extra bills hard, but not impossible as I have saved because I know it’s cyclical and will happen again and again

So true.

I grew up in the 70s and there are many things of standard today that obviously didn’t exist or would be considered luxury.
People led far more frugal lives it’s just a fact.

Wasn’t it in the 80’s / early 90’s that interest rates tripled overnight and many lost their homes?

You should report them then to the ICC if you think there’s made up jobs, as I say there’s absolutely no commercial gain to be had by harvesting CVs and potentially everything to lose if GDPR is breached so 🤷‍♀️

@daimbarsatemydogsbone
www.haysplc.com/investors/annual-report-2021
www.adeccogroup.com/investors/annual-report-2020/

www.randstad.com/s3fs-media/rscom/public/2021-02/randstad-annual-report-2020.pdf
Given the absolutely enormous amounts of profit just the first three that came up in the search engines have made over the past 12 months, I suspect their recruitment consultants are too busy to be making up nonsense and trying to collect data from Randomers who they can’t make any money out of.

@Bringsexyback

Recruitment companies are not allowed to store your data unless it’s relevant, so if you applied for a job five years ago they cannot harvest your CV and store it because it is no longer applicable to the role that you applied for. Please do explain the business model whereby I can make money by collecting people CVs and doing nothing with the information 🤯 *@daimbarsatemydogsbone*

One way I've encountered many many times is thus:

*Admin Jobs available at local large employer
9-5 monday to Friday
30k a year with over time available
Apply now with Kongregate Employment

Sounds great.. Click apply..

Two days later..
"Hi this is Kongregate. You applied for an admin role? That one has gone unfortunately but we do have others similar... This one is 8.30-5.30, 23k a year and some Saturdays.."

Bait and switch.. tons apply for the attractive job, when really they're trying to fill the less attractive jobs..

@RobotValkyrie

Are you saying we should accept a huge reversal in living conditions as our fate?

Well that was the Tories explicit goal when they came back to power in 2010, and even more so in 2015. Dismantling the welfare state, going back to a Victorian class system. Looks like their plan is doing great.

this.

well done to everyone who voted for them AND will continue to vote for them no matter what. You voted for it so suck it up.

sorry to everyone else.

@XenoBitch

I can give you an example...I have a relative who can no longer afford to eat and heat. He has had heating off for ages... was in tears to his mum that he was done with feeling cold. His landlord has increased rent by 20%... a huge amount. He is considering suicide rather than living now.

That is really awful, XenoBitch. I hope someone or people can help him to get through this dreadful time. There must be light at the end of the tunnel.

I've lived through recessions, one of which hit me (us) very hard indeed; we had nothing but debt and could have lost our home. I'm just saying that to illustrate that I do know what it is like, I've 'been there'.

It's great for those of us who are 'all right' now but we can never be complacent; if we can help someone else (discreetly), obviously starting with those close to us if they are in need but extending to others, that will be good. Sometimes just a little helps, a few quid here and there makes all the difference, or some practical help.

@MaryAndHerNet or maybe your skills would only come and 23,000 in the market ? I’m not saying that’s the case but it’s a perfectly plausible explanation that there was indeed a 30K job available and you just didn’t get it.

fallfallfall
what did people do in the 20's; well simple meals, extra clothing and nothing new. homes were tiny and furniture sparce. people used their time making and selling. no tv, no "nail art", no phones in most homes, people added things to meat to stretch it out (oatmeal in ground beef, eggs and breadcrumbs). oil filled lamps for a couple hours after sunset and in bed by 8-9. awake with the sun. they used scraps of material to make rugs in the winter. but everyone was in the same situation (although some were very wealthy).
There was no welfare state and children and the elderly died. Of course they died from “malnutrition” and not “starvation.”

You think we should accept this?

They also died of infectious diseases that we had no protection against back then - diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia, polio, Spanish flu.

@VelvetChairGirl

hopefully people take to the streets, the poll tax riots were not that long ago, there must be some backbones left in the country.

government dont care as long as it doesnt affect them, its up to the people to make sure it does.

They haven't just made protesting illegal for nothing...

[quote Bringsexyback]@MaryAndHerNet or maybe your skills would only come and 23,000 in the market ? I’m not saying that’s the case but it’s a perfectly plausible explanation that there was indeed a 30K job available and you just didn’t get it.[/quote]
I know a number of people in recruitment who say this kind of bait and switch is common practice.

'Landlords aren’t allowed to increase rent by that much. Where is he?'

If he is in the UK, yes they can.

I too struggled through the 1990s recession. Mortgage rate of 12% and had to save up to sell at a loss.
It took us 4 years to get back on the housing ladder and spent every penny on overpaying the mortgage. Because we learned the hard way that interest rates go up and you have no control over that.
We were ready to move in 2007 but the signs of another bust stopped us and we paid down the mortgage more.
It is truly terrible what people are facing.

I don't think things are going to get better in a hurry---Covid in China is threatening to send supply chains into a complete tailspin.

My family is OK but some people I know are really feeling the pinch.

Time for some hellishly large windfall taxes on the wealthy?

I guess it depends which end of the market you’re dealing with I havent applied for a job in nearly 15 years, every role I’ve got has been via my network or being headhunted.

what did people do in the 20's; well simple meals, extra clothing and nothing new. homes were tiny and furniture sparce. people used their time making and selling. no tv, no "nail art", no phones in most homes, people added things to meat to stretch it out (oatmeal in ground beef, eggs and breadcrumbs). oil filled lamps for a couple hours after sunset and in bed by 8-9. awake with the sun. they used scraps of material to make rugs in the winter. but everyone was in the same situation (although some were very wealthy).

They also died of hunger, malnutrition or other poverty related conditions. Even if their death wasn’t directly caused by one of these events, they died much younger because of it.

The sun comes up at 4am in July in Scotland. Not sure we should be up then.

Tone deaf to suggest people will buy nail art rather than buying food.

Time for some hellishly large windfall taxes on the wealthy?

Which number does “the wealthy” start with?

Are you saying we should accept a huge reversal in living conditions as our fate?

Of course. What else can we do? The last 15 or so years have been like a golden age, now it’s come to an end.

[quote Bringsexyback]@MaryAndHerNet or maybe your skills would only come and 23,000 in the market ? I’m not saying that’s the case but it’s a perfectly plausible explanation that there was indeed a 30K job available and you just didn’t get it.[/quote]
Maybe...

But as my example was purely made up, I couldn't say.

What isn't made up is the info in the picture I'll attach..

Recruiting agencies telling people.plain that they will keep their details on file for future..

But,.what do I know..

'Luxuries' aren't just mobile phones and Netflix, pets are also luxuries so we can expect an influx of dogs and cats that people can't afford to feed anymore.

And re. fake jobs.. I'm a freelancer and the amount of fake projects out there is astounding. The 'client' says they've had 100+ applicants so they'll need a short piece of written work to assess if you're the right fit - rewriting a product description for example - 100 words nothing major. But the project is worth hundreds of pounds of regular work so it's worth a 10 minute rewrite. Except the project doesn't actually exist and the 'client' just got 100 + pieces of free content that they can then pass off as their own and get paid for.

The same goes for countless jobs posted online every single day.

It reminds me of the 1980s in parts of the country decimated by Thatchers' policies. I lived on a council estate and loads of people had their heating turned off and used those awful paraffin heaters to heat one room in the house. Ice on the inside of windows in the winter was commonplace. Most kids did not do any paid activities except for maybe cubs and brownies. And the food was basic and cheap. And we had the threat of nuclear war then as well.

It is shit and it is because of the government we have. They do not care about ordinary people at all. Lots of people will suffer even more. And you will still get well off people on places like MN patronising and lecturing those struggling.

@Blossomtoes - The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

@MaryAndHerNet - report them then, breach of GDPR, they get a decent fine and youll have done your bit to clean up the streets. But having just looked at the annual turnover of the company that you’ve just cited don’t think they are going to be the ones advertising 1.1 million vacancies falsely and causing any major problems with the data from the ONS

@Bringsexyback yep I regularly see fake job adverts on my line of work too. They are fishing for people who they can try and match up to other jobs that do exist.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Care to elaborate? That’s a pretty bizarre contribution to this thread.

@Blossomtoes

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Care to elaborate? That’s a pretty bizarre contribution to this thread.

You seem very accepting and defeatist in the status quo and the idea that things are going to go rapidly downhill to the Victorian era again and you don’t think that there’s anything else can be done about it.